The String Cheese Incident kicked off their Campout in the Pines weekend last evening in Eau Claire, Wis. The Del McCoury Band opened the show while STS9 joins SCI on the bill tonight, after which experimental jamgrass quartet Feed The Dog will present a late night Talking Heads tribute.

On Friday at the Pines Music Park, following the Del McCoury Band performance, String Cheese delivered a single extended set, starting things out with “Smile” and “Close Your Eyes.” Then the host group welcomed Del and his sons Rob and Ronnie to the stage, as Del and SCI’s Bill Nershi shared vocals on a version of “Sittin’ On Top of the World.” During the “Shenandoah Breakdown” that followed, Rob contributed some memorable banjo runs, while Ronnie complemented these on mandolin.

The McCourys then stepped off, leaving the remainder of the show to String Cheese. The group moved into Hank Ballard’s “Tore Up Over You,” a Jerry Garcia staple which SCI has performed infrequently over the years. Then the six-piece offered an extended segued sequence that began with the Talking Heads’ “Naive Melody (This Must Be the Place)” before moving into three originals: the relatively new “Roll Around the Sun,” “Sirens” which has been in rotation since 2003 and, finally, longtime staple “Texas.” The encores were Bob Dylan’s “Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)” and SCI’s “Hi Ho No Show.”

After tonight’s gig, The String Cheese Incident is off until two Oregon dates at the end of the month.